On the Move: Relocation Spotlight shines on The Woodlands Development Co.

By Michelle Sandlin |
June 27, 2014

The Woodlands continues to draw many new residents, and is one of the top areas of the Houston region that is attracting relocation homebuyers. Nobody knows this better than Tim Welbes, president of The Woodlands Development Company.

I recently visited with Welbes, along with Jeanne Toth, the company's manager of relocation and Realtor relations.

The two spoke about the excitement surrounding The Woodlands these days, and how the face of the area has changed over the years. Below are excerpts from our interview.

MS: How is the overall population growth in the Houston area impacting major growth and development in The Woodlands?

TW: The publicity associated with ExxonMobil's announcement is being identified as a source of demand, but in reality, the energy industry and the boom associated with fracking and all that Houston does in connection with the tremendous job growth in the energy sector, really accounts for a lot of the office leasing here in The Woodlands region and the associated home buying that comes about when those employees go looking for homes.

That was all under way and it's in full bloom now. I think that the market was very strong before the ExxonMobil announcement.

MS: How are builders combatting low inventory issues in an area of such high demand?

TW: Aside from the very powerful impact of ExxonMobil, the otherwise health of Houston and the job growth in the region has strained the builders' ability to get enough inventory on the ground.

I think part of that is a labor challenge more than material challenge, and so, I think every community and every builder is doing all they can to get as much inventory built as quickly as possible. There's just more demand than supply.

MS: What are the top aspects about The Woodlands that are driving newcomers to the area?

TW: The word of mouth customer satisfaction of people who live or work in The Woodlands helps drive newcomers to decide to go look. And when they come, hopefully they take the time to stop at our Information Center to get oriented and get a sense of the community.

I think there are two channels to watch. If you come in and have a friend or acquaintance that can show you their home, their park, their pool, how their lifestyle is as a resident, that you will think it's worth your time to look at it.

The other is the culmination of almost 40 years of development and a population over 100,000 people.

We now have the mall, Market Street, the Waterway Square area, the Pavilion and downtown Woodlands. It's becoming sort of an urban, high-density structured environment that is a very exciting, dynamic place.

JT: Also I think the face and profile of The Woodlands is changing. We are not just a family neighborhood community any more.

We have great urban housing with condos and lofts and apartments and new luxury apartments that are coming, so we're attracting some of the younger employees that might have typically looked downtown.

MS: Are there other aspects that are important to new residents?

TW: Millennials and many others have become informal foodies. They want to find chef-centric restaurants that are new and cutting edge. I think the volume and variety of food opportunities here is another major attraction.

MS: How do you help the real estate community serve their clients?

JT: We work with both commercial and residential brokers. It's a lot of education.

When they have their clients in their car, the last thing we want them to do is to not know what's new and what's going on and wonder what they are going to do.

They come out to The Woodlands and to our Information Center and they learn that we just take care of them. We help their clients and answer their questions.

TW: Also, if the site selection committee from the employer's enterprise comes out here to investigate an office lease or a location for their office, they are then made to observe what their employees will find if they come as a result of a relocation and it gives that site selection committee comfort that this will ease the stress of relocating.

Then there's that whole issue of change, and with technology obviously everybody is going to pre-study the destination. They are going to go online and get all the answers the search engines can deliver, but when they come to the Information Center, they sit down with a human being, which may be old fashioned, but there's really no substitute for that.

Michelle Sandlin is a writer and relocation industry expert. She is the 2014 President of Houston Relocation Professionals (HRP), and is a speaker at various conferences and events locally and around the country. Follow Michelle on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HoustonRelocation and on Twitter: @MichelleSandlin. Also visit "On the Move - Exploring Houston Relocation with Michelle Sandlin" at blog.chron.com/onthemove.

If you have something to share or contribute, please send an email to michelle.sandlin@me.com. Please look for another Michelle Sandlin "On the Move" relocation article in today's Jobs section.